When the Tripods Came: Tripods Series Prequel (Book 4)

The story of The Tripods was the basis of a popular BBC television series in the 1980s, where humanity has been conquered and enslaved by "the tripods", unseen alien entities that travel about in gigantic three-legged walking machines.

Childhood's End

When the silent spacecraft arrived and took the light from the world, no one knew what to expect. When the Overlords finally showed themselves it was a shock but one that humankind could now cope with, and an era of peace, prosperity and endless leisure began. But the children of this utopia dream strange dreams of distant suns and alien planets, and soon they will be ready to join the Overmind...and, in a grand and thrilling metaphysical climax, leave Earth behind.

The Medusa Chronicles

Following an accident that almost cost him his life, Howard Falcon was not so much saved as he was converted, through the use of prosthetics, into something faster, stronger and smarter...but also slightly less human and more machine than he was. And with this change came an opportunity - that of piloting a mission into Jupiter's atmosphere and ultimately of making first contact with the life forms he discovers there.

Survivors

A deadly virus spreads across the world as quickly as the passenger jets that encircle it. Within weeks most of the global population is dead. The human race is thrown back into the dark ages. The few left alive must rely on the most basic skills to survive one day to the next. Abby Grant ventures out into a strange new England, her husband dead, the fate of her son unknown. Jenny Richards flees London. Engineer Greg Preston arrives from abroad.

Red Dwarf: Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers

When Lister got drunk, he really got drunk! After celebrating his birthday with a Monopoly-board pub crawl around London, he came to in a burger bar on one of Saturns moons, wearing a lady's pink crimplene hat and a pair of yellow fishing waders, with no money and a passport in the name of "Emily Berkenstein". Joining the Space Corps seemed a good idea.

It begins with just a few people falling ill. Another flu virus that spreads around the globe. And then the reports begin that people are dying.... When most of the world's population is wiped out, a handful of survivors are left to pick up the pieces. Cities become graveyards. Technology becomes largely obsolete. Mankind must start again....

Misery

Misery Chastain was dead. Paul Sheldon had just killed her - with relief, with joy. Misery had made him rich; she was the heroine of a string of best sellers. And now he wanted to get on to some real writing. That's when the car accident happened, and he woke up in pain in a strange bed. But it wasn't the hospital. Annie Wilkes had pulled him from the wreck, brought him to her remote mountain home, splinted and set his mangled legs. The good news was that Annie was a nurse and had painkilling drugs. The bad news was that she was Paul's Number One Fan.

The Kraken Wakes

Journalist Mike Watson and his wife, Phyllis, trace it back to the strange showering lights they noticed on the final day of their honeymoon cruise; lights which appeared to land and disappear into the water. Reports mount of similar sightings all over the world. Governments embark on missions to investigate the sea, but ships disappear and diving crews never return to the surface. Something deep in the ocean does not want to be disturbed.

Domain: The Rats Series, Book 3

Book Three in Herbert's classic 'rats' series. The final countdown. The long-dreaded nuclear conflict. The city torn apart, shattered, its people destroyed or mutilated beyond hope. For just a few, survival is possible only beneath the wrecked streets - if there is time to avoid the slow-descending poisonous ashes. But below, the rats, demonic offspring of irradiated forebears, are waiting. They know that Man is weakened, become frail. Man has become their prey.

The continuing adventures of Henry Gordon Jago and George Litefoot, characters first introduced on television in Doctor Who: The Talons of Weng-Chiang (1977), who have become Infernal Investigators, solving mysteries involving paranormal or alien phenomena in 1880s London.

It

To the children, the town was their whole world. To the adults, knowing better, Derry, Maine, was just their hometown: familiar, well ordered for the most part. A good place to live. It was the children who saw - and felt - what made Derry so horribly different. In the storm drains, in the sewers, IT lurked, taking on the shape of every nightmare, each one's deepest dread. Sometimes IT reached up, seizing, tearing, killing....

A Fall of Moondust

Time is running out for the passengers and crew of the tourist cruiser Selene, incarcerated in a sea of choking lunar dust. On the surface her rescuers find their resources stretched to the limit by the mercilessly unpredictable conditions of a totally alien environment.

Dracula [Audible Edition]

The modern audience hasn't had a chance to truly appreciate the unknowing dread that readers would have felt when reading Bram Stoker's original 1897 manuscript. Most modern productions employ campiness or sound effects to try to bring back that gothic tension, but we've tried something different. By returning to Stoker's original storytelling structure - a series of letters and journal entries voiced by Jonathan Harker, Dr. Van Helsing, and other characters - with an all-star cast of narrators, we've sought to recapture its originally intended horror and power.

Lair: The Rats Series, Book 2

Book Two in Herbert's classic 'rats' series.They've waited long enough.The mutant white rats had grown and mated, creating offspring in its own image. They dominated the others, the dark-furred ones, who foraged for food and brought it back to the lair. Now the dark rats were restless, tormented by a craving they could not satisfy. But the white sluglike thing that ruled them knew. Its two heads weaved to and fro and a stickiness drooled from its mouth as it remembered the taste of human flesh.

The Andromeda Strain

The United States government is given a warning by the preeminent biophysicists in the country: Current sterilization procedures applied to returning space probes may be inadequate to guarantee uncontaminated reentry to the atmosphere.

The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany

Since its publication in 1960, William L. Shirer's monumental study of Hitler's German empire has been widely acclaimed as the definitive record of the 20th century's blackest hours. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich offers an unparalleled and thrillingly told examination of how Adolf Hitler nearly succeeded in conquering the world. With millions of copies in print around the globe, it has attained the status of a vital and enduring classic.

The Noise of Time

In May 1937, a man in his early 30s waits by the lift of a Leningrad apartment block. He waits all through the night, expecting to be taken away to the Big House. Any celebrity he has known in the previous decade is no use to him now, and few who are taken to the Big House ever return.

The Rats: The Rats Series, Book 1

The terror begins. London is struck by an invasion. Women, children, old and young, none are safe from the deadly menace. The attacks are swift and sure, escape is impossible. A state of emergency is declared. Evacuation seems the only solution in the face of a growing panic and mounting death toll. War is declared on the public enemy number one. The Rats!

Pandemic

A three-part thriller by John Dryden. In Part 1, 'The Present', Dr Jan Roldano, microbiologist and WHO advisor on infectious diseases, arrives in Bangkok to give a keynote lecture at a medical conference. But when a virulent strain of bird flu emerges, he finds himself trapped in Thailand.

Foundation

For 12,000 years the Galactic Empire has ruled supreme. Now it is dying. But only Hari Sheldon, creator of the revolutionary science of psychohistory, can see into the future, to a dark age of ignorance, barbarism, and warfare that will last 30,000 years. To preserve knowledge and save mankind, Seldon gathers the best minds in the Empire, both scientists and scholars, and brings them to a bleak planet at the edge of the Galaxy to serve as a beacon of hope for a fututre generations.

Slade House

Prepare to be chilled, electrified and entertained - a gem of a novel from 'one of the most brilliantly inventive writers of this, or any country' (Independent). Walk down narrow, clammy Slade Alley. Open the black iron door in the right-hand wall. Enter the sunlit garden of an old house that doesn't exactly make sense. A stranger greets you by name and invites you inside. At first, you won't want to leave. Too late, you find you can't....

Publisher's Summary

In the first book of John Christopher's classic series, it is the year 2100, and the world is controlled by the machines called Tripods. Life goes on largely as it had in the pre-industrial era, as all of humanity is subject to mental controls that prevent anyone from challenging the established order.

Will, a 13-year-old living in the small English village of Wherton, is looking forward to the transition to adulthood, which will take place on the next "Capping Day" - until a chance meeting with a mysterious Vagrant named Ozymandias sends him on a quest to discover a world beyond the Tripods' control.

This is the first book in the ?Tripods? trilogy. The tripods (for those who don?t remember the BBC series) are large, three-legged creatures who have invaded earth and enslaved mankind. White Mountains is the story of a young boy called Will and various other humans who make a dangerous journey across the ?white mountains?, in order to make a stand against the tripods. It?s a great yarn, which I think younger Sci-Fi fans would probably also enjoy.

The audio books and my kindle have opened up a whole new world to me. Having had reading difficulties throughout my early life I am now able to enter a whole realm of adventure. I have devoured the Tripods series starting with The White Mountains and could not wait to follow Will's challenges and struggles to evade capture; to escape; his life as a slave to discover the Tripods life style. I never ever considered I would become a bookworm but I'm well and truly hooked and can't wait to listen to the next chapters. If you like adventure, science fiction and suspense, the whole series is a must and i'm so glad I purchased them.

No, as it is a children's book, one reading is fine, but I will listen to the whole series.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The White Mountains?

The description of the countryside and tripods are simple yet very effective.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes. I spread it over commutes, but if you wanted to you could spend the better part of a day and listen to the whole series. This first book is only just over 4 hours.

Any additional comments?

The book finishes off and you feel like it should of went on. So get the whole series and get on with the story. Loved this book, love the idea of tripods since that record came out in the late 70s, even loved the Tom Cruise movie 'War of the Worlds'. So do yourself a favour and get with the program. Listen to this book and enjoy an easy story.

8 of 8 people found this review helpful

Peter

06/01/15

Overall

Performance

Story

"Top shelf book"

This series of books have been a favourite since childhood and the audible version does great justice to what is a great read.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Kindle Customers

HOPKINS, MN, US

26/03/12

Overall

Performance

Story

"Preeteen trilogy"

As with City of Gold and Lead and Pool of Fire, John Christopher explains in the intro, how and why this series came about. He accomplished his goal, I think, in making a book that preteens would like and actually turned it into a trilogy that was entertaining and introduced adult themes such as freedom, politics, and others to young people so they can understand and form their own opinions.

7 of 8 people found this review helpful

Michael

Walnut Creek, CA, United States

05/04/12

Overall

Performance

Story

"Dated preteen almost-science-fiction...."

This review will cover the prequel (When the Tripods Came) and the trilogy (The White Mountains, The City of Gold, and The Pool of Fire.) These are all more than slightly dated, quite British, and definitely pre-teen fare. A very young male audience may enjoy this series. I found the story modestly interesting but more than a bit derivative and conventional.

The prequel can be read before the trilogy, but it does not add much that is not described in the trilogy. The characters in the prequel are less developed, the action less compelling, and the story more predictable than the trilogy. The trilogy has decent British boy character development, and an interesting story with some (not very intense) action and a few interesting twists. Perhaps being written in the 60???s is some excuse for weak science (but there is a lot of great pre-60???s science fiction.)

17 of 21 people found this review helpful

Rahul

03/07/15

Overall

Performance

Story

"Not an adults scifi"

Simplistic plot, great for a kid. Lot of gaps. Reader was unengaging and honestly very easy to tune out (not a good thing).

9 of 12 people found this review helpful

JAMES L. STEWART

05/04/15

Overall

Performance

Story

"awsome"

as good as i remembered from my youth. herd it first from takking books for the blind. looking foreward to the next volume.

3 of 4 people found this review helpful

Amazon Customer

20/05/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"still amazing!"

read this book when I was in middle school, about 10yrs ago. it still holds up even as an adult. the narrator does a great job. I'm just spoiled from podcasts with music and sound effects. everything should be done with that kind of quality.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

MacKenzie

Alameda, CA

01/01/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"Revisiting Middle School in Audiobook Form"

What made the experience of listening to The White Mountains the most enjoyable?

The White Mountains was assigned reading in my 6th grade language arts class. Rereading it as an adult was familiar and pleasant. It was interesting to see how much I remembered of the book.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The White Mountains?

The entire period when they were tempted to stay and be capped was much more memorable as an adult than it was as a child. Young adult dystopias tend to be a little heavy-handed, but Gaminara's reading made the challenges of the protagonists more realistic than Christopher's writing did.

Which character – as performed by William Gaminara – was your favorite?

I liked the voice he did for Beanpole quite a bit.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

More or less, yes. It was shorter than my usual fare on Audible, so I finished it in about two sittings.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

bookouri

United States

06/08/15

Overall

Performance

Story

"Reminds me of Heinlein's Juvenile work but less"

Any additional comments?

I would have been disappointed in the book, if I had skipped the intro. But, the author takes pains to explain that this series was intended for young readers, and he set the time frame when they were written as the 1960’s. That being understood, I got exactly what the author promised from the book. Good, simple, 1960’s ish, sci-fi ish, youth fiction. As I read, I could not help comparing these works with Heinlein’s juvenile work and often found myself thinking how pale it was in comparison. However, having recently re-read some of Heinlein’s works from near the same period, for the same audience, I realize my reverence for Heinlein might be influencing my judgement. By modern standards these works are painfully dated. They need better “science,” and better character development for a “modern” audience. As I read, I also could not help thinking how much the author “stole” from “War of the Worlds.” Interestingly enough in the second book of the series, the author talks about these similarities and claims not to have realized he was influenced by Well’s work during the writing, but only afterwards became aware that the tripods had been done before. I’m not sure I believe him, but he does get points for the admission.Everything being said, I managed to finish book one and started book two. There was nothing in the book that was so bad that I could not finish it. It was entertaining to the end. Unfortunately, book two in the series seems to have lost its momentum, and it remains to be seen if I can finish it. In book two the characters are no better developed, and the plot falls apart totally into plans and actions and plot that is totally unbelievable and incomprehensible. In the first book the characters often did things that did not make sense, were stupid and unbelievable. That trend builds momentum fast in book two, and I am on the verge of giving it up. Unfortunately based on book one, I already have book three in my library. I don't expect to make it to book three at this point.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Dubi

New York, NY

04/08/15

Overall

Performance

Story

"How Can You Be In Two Places At Once..."

... when you're nowhere at all.

In the introduction to The White Mountains, John Christopher says he wanted to write about medieval times, but his commission was to write in his best known genre, science fiction. So he changed the overlords to technomancers of unknown origin, changed their method of mind control from religion to wired-up brain caps, and wrote about the Middle Ages anyway.

Unfortunately, in trying to have it both ways, he did neither. He never establishes a medieval setting, except for one fabulous chapter set among the ruins of Paris. And he never explains why and how the Tripods came to rule the land. He no doubt gets to that later in the trilogy, but Christopher himself admits in the foreword that at the start, he himself did not know what the Tripods were -- Creative Writing 101, know your characters and their history even if you don't plan to cover it explicitly.

Worst of all, the story begins and concludes with such rapidity as to defy all credulity. Robert McKee in his (in)famous writing seminar spills the secret to credible plotting -- characters do the minimum necessary to achieve their goals, complications ensuing when they fail, forcing them to take additional measures. Christopher's characters immediately choose the most difficult, unexpected, non-believable course of action at the start of the story. It doesn't work.

I understand this was meant for teens, and I'm a jaded adult of advancing age. Still, just because you can fool youngsters who haven't figured these things out yet is no excuse for bad plotting. What a shame, because there is a lot of promise in the initial idea, even though it has since been hackneyed to death in umpteen versions.

(Bonus points to anyone who recognizes the headline reference.)

1 of 2 people found this review helpful

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